Blackbeak Bluff hot ocean milk with dead animal croutons

Furi is getting close to the point where she’ll have to see Portia. She doesn’t know the woman well but she is close with Blix and Artaax and a longstanding member. She seems to know what she’s doing but Furi is so new and she doesn’t want to be a nuisance anymore than she often feels. Perhaps she can convince Blix to go first and see what she says, and she can do the same. Nervously, she licks her lips, heading to the border to find her. 

Her search is unsuccessful by the time she reaches the southern border. The girl frowns but he feet does not stop, traveling aimlessly along. It is the first night she spends away from Drageda, making her way through the forest and out the following morning. With all the scratching, her fur is barbered down to the follicles and missing completely in some places. What skin is visible is pink and inflamed, obviously painfully angry. 

By the time she reaches the bluff overlooking the sea, she’s certain she can’t take it anymore. Furi groans and, very briefly, thinks about throwing herself over the cliffs.

 the scarlet witch's feet itch with the desire to roam and so she goes, parting easily from the plateau to slip up the coast north-ward, a place she's never been far-far-far away from the last place she saw her angel-faced girl. some days the thought of traipsing by - perhaps to finally visit her friend, perhaps just to simply lay in the flowers and think - is enough to bring her to her knees; some days she does not mind so bad, but today is not one of those. 

the sea-salted coastal air is brightening lovely and witchbaby sings under her breath, light on her feet like a feather as she prances. she does not stop until - "oh, oh?" chirps the starlet, eyes alight at the sight of her - no longer so dusky-dark friend. for a moment wb wonders if she's misrecognizing - she smells different, and her coat's become lighter - but, no, there's something familiar lingering there, and if she's wrong, well, she just loves to chat. "dusky baby, is that you?" she cooes, slipping up beside her. "why sucha glum face?"

She does not entertain the thought for long when she deems it silly. It isn’t even just her and Blix, either. She’s noticed it in whenever she’s with Étoille and even Eske. There has to be some kind of connection. Were they all just spreading it to each other? It takes everything she has, ever ounce of focus, not to chew at every inch she can reach. So as Witchbaby approaches, she does not notice her and she jerks in surprise and stammers back, briefly worried she might actually tumble over the cliff and down the rocky wall. Her silvery green eyes scan the other wolf to realize she knows her and she isn’t able to stifle the yelp of excitement at seeing her friend again.

Furi growls, dropping her head to chew at the nook in her arm opposite her elbow until she feels the hair tear away. “I’m so ITCHY!” she cries, pulling away from the spot and plopping her rump on the ground and pouts.

last wb'd seen her, dusky baby'd been a wretch of a thing, half starved and heartbreaking, and it'd only been the scent of guardianship that'd kept her from trying to intervene more (not that the starlet knows much about child rearing, but!) . now the pretty angel seems on the mend, nicely filled out and glowing with health, or with something akin to health -- and oh, she's close enough to see those spots of pinked skin through rubbed down fur, and before she's time to process that this is the first thing she's ever heard dusky baby say aloud she is springing back and away, expression alarmed.

"you can talk!" she cries, joyous and unnerved. wb may not know what a flea is but the scarlet witch has the sense to stay a safe distance from a visible skin condition - she's too beautiful to succumb to such a fate (sorry, dusky baby) "why're you itchy?!"

For a moment, Witchbaby’s response confuses her. She’d forgotten she hadn’t said a word to the girl when they’d spent time together and so briefly, confusion crosses her face that quickly melts into understanding. Furi doesn’t say anything about it at the moment but she does bite the other has taken several large steps away, which only makes her feel worse. Her lips purse and she looks pleadingly at her friend, a frown placed on her features. She groans and sinks further into the ground, chewing at her paws a moment before she answers. ”I don’t know,” she whines, then goes back to licking her feet. If Blixen is experiencing it, as well as a few others, does that mean it’s contagious? Her jaw tightened and she looks up to the scarlet wolf, hoping she can offer some kind of relief.

guilt transforms her features but she does not move closer, oh no. "sorry, angel," the witch croons, the tilt of her head apologetic, "i dunno either -- y'gotta find someone who knows 'bout skin conditions an' alla that." wb is many things: talented, beautiful, likeable - but knowledgable about the wolven body she is not and she lacks medical aspirations to start with.

what she is good at is talking to people, and so she carefully takes a step forward, though her funny-pink eyes linger on furi's raw bitten toes. "sorry you ain't feelin' good," she says, "why don'tcha talk to me a little, take your mind offa it?" the starlet grins and drops to her belly, tail wagging as she pulls herself into a sphinx-like pose with dainty crossed paws. "tell me all about where you're stayin' now, yeah?"

Witchbaby doesn’t offer much help and only tells her what she already knows. It would be easier if someone she knows could help her out somehow. Seeking out the woman she barely knows for a problem she doesn’t understand feels embarrassing and if Blixen and the others had it, she’d feel a lot worse. It can’t be something only she has, either, but the others haven’t looked as bad as she has. Blixen doesn’t scratch near as much but maybe she’s just weaker. The fiery girl has always proven better in most things, so why not this too?
 
Furi tightens her jaws as the other settles on the ground, shifting her feet when she notices the stare last more than a few seconds. The acknowledgment of her burning toes only makes her want to chew at them more but the thought pricks the backs of her eyes and she sucks in a breath.
 
“It’s um… It’s called Drageda. Up the coast a little. The wolves that found me brought me back and I-I guess I...” she pauses, licking her lips and looking down at her feet again. Instead of biting at them, she lowers herself to the ground and tucks both paws beneath her chest, shifting so she at least looks comfortable. “They like me, I think,” she says and her pale green eyes flicker up with a little more cheer in the corners.

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the dusky angelette lays too, not quite a mimic of wb's stature but those red-raw toes get tucked away, something the scarlet witch finds immensely soothing. just looking at the poor scratched up thing makes witchbaby want to turn her teeth on her own flesh. "drageda," she repeats, gaze thoughtful as it turns over furi's silver-dusted shoulders toward the coast. that's the sort of information that would probably benefit another to know, given the founding of her own pack-home down the coast a bit away, but witchbaby merely files it away as geographical accoutrement. 

"ya think?" she wheedles, big-eyed curious. who wouldn't like ------- "what is your name?" the aesthete asks abruptly, her own line of thought crashed into the blank space where dusky-baby's name should have been.

One ear twitches on her head when Witchbaby questions her and she opens her mouth to speak, only to quickly click her teeth together. It had not occurred to her that the other didn’t know her name. She’d forgotten they hadn’t spoken, despite how easily they got along. There is something soothing and comforting about Witchbaby’s presence that she doesn’t yet try to sort out. In the same way, she is reminded of Blixen, but… still not the same. Her mouth form the round sound of her given name but she quickly wipes it, clears her throat, and finally offers: “Furi.”

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there: who wouldn't like furi? "hm!" she says, scooting an inch closer - just an inch, guard still up, she is not catchin' whatever furi's carryin' - "well, furi, i can't imagine anyone not likin' you," the scarlet witch asserts, tone the right mix of flattering-reassuring to be genuine. "ain't you got anyone 'round your age to play with?" she's not much older than the angelette, she thinks, though sometimes she thinks she's been alive for centuries, a timeless thing.

Furi has never had much of a problem with shyness but she feels the need to draw in the moment her cheeks burn red. Somewhere with a mix of embarrassment and flattering it sits and she’s certain she could listen to Witchbaby’s voice all day. Something about it keeps her drawn it, letting go of the strained feeling of her cheeks. “Yeah…” she says like a child caught in an innocent lie, glancing down at her feet. Witchbaby inching forward hasn’t gone unnoticed and she wants to close the distance, but it is evident the other really doesn’t want to but the way her chest sits funny makes it difficult. “There’s a couple but,” she pauses and glances up. Blixen gives her attention the most but the others are pretty distant or uninterested and all she wants to do is break through to show them she can be like them, too. “There’s a lot going on, I guess,” she adds with a wrinkle of her nose.

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the starlet remains oblivious to her affect on the angelette. of course it's only barely sunk in her own proclivities and it doesn't yet occur to her that others are like her, too - though if she did know -- perhaps it's for the best she doesn't, lest her spotlight grow too hot for her to dance under.

her expression turns curious-concerned by measure, laying her scarlet nose against her dainty-crossed paws. "a lot goin' on, huh? i getcha," witchbaby says coaxingly, "i got a lot goin' on too. tell me yours an' i'll tell you mine, yeah?"

A part of her feels weird talking about herself. She doesn’t know much about the other, but there is promise she’ll tell her. She does know she has a girl and she is easily intrigued by that. Ears cup forward and she ums to herself briefly. “Well, one of their wolves was missing and they found her but she’s not home, yet… she’s, somewhere. With her birth family, I think,” she explains though she isn’t entirely sure. She hears a lot from Blixen sometimes but she is not—and has not—been directly involved since Eske found her. “But,” she says with a grin, thumping her tail on the ground. “I am a warrior now! Officially. It is my rank there.”

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her dulcet drawings work as baby-girl finally divulges more information - still a little on the vague side but witchbaby doesn't need all the details, just a snapshot. but oh, the news itself! a wolf missing-and-found - but not home, but found - "better'n them not findin' her at all," witchbaby says, eyes gone soft and sad. 

the look is gone as quick as it came, replaced with a sharp smile at furi's profession. "you did seem like the scrappy type," she giggles, recalling their fight with the fox, "i'm happy for ya!"

seems thats all furi's gonna give her for now, so she lifts her head up with a hum. "suppose it's my turn - i fell in with a pack a sorts," the scarlet coy-witch says, expression conspiratorial, "they ain't founded yet but it's a little bit further down the coast, bhediyon. never considered myself a pack-type but ty - the alpha - says i can wander an' all an' it's still good." bhediyon is her big news - there is something conspicuously absent from the story, which she delicately choses to not address at all. "an' my brother found me an' he's stickin' around too," she adds, grinning. "fair trade?"

Witchbaby offers encouragement but she does not have any attachment to the wolf she does not know. It seems like it will be a long while (if at all) before she meets Wildfire but she often feeds off Blixen’s anxieties when they hang out and she often feels bad for her friend because  of her missing mother. She doesn’t even have her dad to lean on for support, either, and her lips twist. It often leads her to think about her own parents and where they are, if they’ve given up their search or if they are still looking. Her heart aches a little and her blood runs cold, glancing away to hide the sudden way of emotion.
 
As the other does not linger long on it, either, Furi is able to wash away the feeling easily too. Witchbaby’s compliments warm her cheeks and she immediately bounces back, offering her an awkward smile and a few thumps of her tail in thanks. She continues to listen as she then shares her story and her ears cup forward, anticipating the biggest information of all but the other does not deliver. One ear falls back briefly and she licks her lips. Part of her wants to know about the other pack that she’s taken to, if only because she isn’t so sure about her place in Drageda as much as she’d like to be and Witchbaby seems awfully fond of her and vice versa. Maybe it will suit her much better but she bites her tongue and then, instead, blurts out the question that’s been on her mind: “what about your girl?”

​

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for a split second the curtain slips and with it witchbaby's trademark grin. pay no attention to the broken-hearted behind the mask - it's only a second and her expression is back to normal, even if it doesn't quite reach her eyes. ah, she'd told furi about her girl, hadn't she? not the poor angelette's fault - she wouldn't know -- the starlet twists internally and sighs, taking on a dramatically woeful edge. 

"we've since parted," the scarlet witch says, tragic, tragic. "or rather she parted an' left me behind all alone," she sighs, lashes fluttering, "but i ain't gonna sit around dyin' of consumption, y'know -- plenty of beautiful girls in the sea." before she'd met kinkajuú - before juú'd stolen her heart, her soul, her future - she'd not even known she preferred the company of women, and so - in a way, isn't this an opportunity? a chance to sow her oats a little? oh, weetzie wouldn't approve, but he doesn't approve of anything, and it's never stopped her before.

Furi does not notice the quick change in expression but she feels the weight of the words when she explains she’d been left by her. She can’t help the frown to her features, uncertain how this makes her feel. She’d never met the girl she talks about but she’d left her girlfriend behind and that wasn’t very nice of her. Even if Witchbaby doesn’t seem to be terribly affected by this, she still sounds sad in a way. Strong.
 
She adjusts herself a little, taking in a deep breath, and nods when she determines there are other girls—beautiful girls--for her. It does not surprise her when she takes herself out of the equation. She hadn’t expected to be there in the first place but the revelation she’d had the last time they’d seen each other, leading up to now, puts a weird feeling in her chest. The last thing she is is beautiful, with her teeth torn toes and broken patches of skin and fur on her rump. Blixen had called her fur pretty once but it’s been changing awkwardly in ways Furi isn’t so sure she likes.
 
Without realizing it, her expression falls and she shifts and unhooks one paw from her chest, licking at the top of her toes. “I should probably get going back,” she adds, though she doesn’t really want to. She doesn’t think she’ll stop the overwhelming feeling behind her eyes, though. “Will I see you again?” she asks and glances up, taking a deep breath to better control the urge.

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it's easier, isn't it, to talk about her through the air of tragedy, to stage the production as such that she's the starring role in this star-crossed lover's tale. god forbid the starlet be forced to confront her feelings with honesty - she leads a true life but not an honest one. 

but she does not like it when her delivery fails and she does not understand why the beautiful angelette's face falls so. "miss furi," she says, stricken, not understanding. well - well, what is she if not a skilled improvisor? the girl's question cheers her slightly and wb nods once, twice, a slow smile on her maw. "'course so - think we gotta count as friends by now, angel," she reassures, casting a glance over her shoulder in the direction of the plateau. "an' i ain't so far from you now, anyway."

When she says her name, only ear ear twitches, but she doesn’t have to acknowledge much more than that. Witchbaby assures her they can see each other again and she smiles, able to fight the underlying feelings a little while longer. The description of where she lives is vague but she thinks she can find it easy enough. If it’s close enough for her to hang out all the way up here, surely he can’t be that much farther. “I’ll come visit,” she says with a smile, albeit small, and slowly begins to pick herself up. She wants to close the distance and nudge her cheek or offer an embrace but the other hadn’t wanted to come near her and her smile fades. “I won’t be itchy then,” she says, though she knows she can’t be sure. It can’t be like this forever, anyway.

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their time together draws to a close - wb stretches out luxuriously, rising up on her slim long legs and smiles at the girl - who's nearly overtaken her in size by now. so strange, these big and beautiful beasts, wolves. "i hope you ain't itchy soon," the starlet agrees with a playful smile, darting forward to bump her nose against the other's cheek in briefly stolen affection - and jumps back just as quickly, better safe-than-sorry. "see you around, angel," she says cheery-bright and turns on her heel, heading back down the coast toward her new home.